The Hotel Incident
by Obscure Soul
Summary: "Don't do it. It's a suicide mission." "And if I don't do it, a little boy is going to die." Rated T for bad language.


**A/N: This started off as a prompt from 27 Things, but spiralled out of control, tough in a good way, and thus, this was created. By far the longest one-shot I've ever written, but I quite like it. It is completely unrelated to 27 Things and any one-shots produced as a result from that.**

**Rated 'T' for use of bad language.**

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own, don't sue. I'm not feeling very creative today :P**

**The Hotel Incident**

It was a serious incursion.

"Where is it, Jess?" Becker asked as he leaned over and grabbed a black box.

"Park Street Hotel." She told him. Becker nodded, securing his ear piece.

"Stay warm!" She called, smirking, as he left. Shooting her a grin, he called back,

"Yes ma'am!" Jess couldn't help but grin, despite the danger she knew that he was walking into.

* * *

><p>"Get out." Matt's terse tone cut across the comms. They were chasing down the herd of raptors that had come through an anomaly in the basement when it happened.<p>

Becker was hating it already. He'd lost six good men because they'd got themselves cornered by a very large number of the beasts.

"What's wrong?" Becker asked cautiously.

"We've got a huge fire – the whole basement is in flames. You can't get in or out of it. I'm sorry, we've lost Dempsey and Jackson." Matt responded. Becker swore. They'd not managed to get any further than the foyer because of security measures – ones that he would look into; they were brilliant. Unfortunately, not very helpful at this very moment. He looked up, and could see Matt running across the foyer, with a fearsome fireball following him.

"I don't know what set it off, but it looks explosive!" He yelled. Becker nodded, and the team sprinted out.

Just in time, too, for the whole of the first floor was soon covered in flames.

Becker marched over to an official-looking man, who was kicking up a lot of fuss behind the police cordon.

"You. Do you know what the hell is going on with that building?"

"Just been upgraded. It's a new thing that they were trying out. A special button for special cases." The man told him matter-of-factly.

"So what the hell does that mean?" Becker asked impatiently.

"The button is linked up to the whole hotel. It goes on lockdown, and the building catches fire from the bottom up. At intervals, the next floor will catch fire. There's a twelve minute delay between the button being pressed and the whole basement catching fire, then the next floor, and so on."

"Whose _stupid_ idea was that?" Becker yelled. The man looked affronted.

"How the hell should I know?" The man retorted, before stalking off, muttering about security forces these days.

"Excuse me?" A strong, tall and indimidating man approached Becker.

"Yes?" He snapped.

"I'm sorry for bothering you – but my ex-wife and son haven't come out of the building." Becker froze.

"What?" He asked, an odd calm in his voice.

"My ex-wife…and my son. They're still in the building. He's only five." The man told him.

"Name?" He asked.

"Charles-"

"Not you, the ex-wife and kid!" Becker told him, beginning to lose his patience once more.

"Oh. Claire Lloyd and Cameron Baxter."

"Right. I'll see what I can do." Becker informed the man, before walking away and pressing his hand to his com.

"Jess, apparently two people never made it out. Could you scan the building for them, or check what room they were in?"

"Sure. Names?" Jess asked.

"Claire Lloyd and Cameron Baxter."

"I'll bring up the data from the security feed, but apparently they were staying on the eighth floor."

"Wouldn't the security desk be…well, _gone_ by now?" Becker questioned.

"No." Jess responded. "This hotel is a new conception. I don't know all the details, but the security desk is on the fourth floor. Whoever built this built it with security as the number one priority; there's so many things that I've never seen before." There was silence for a while, and all Becker could do was pace.

"Got it. I can't see what happened to Claire after she left the room, but there were raptors on the floor. Cameron's locked himself in the bathroom of their suite – room 859. I'll try to contact him."

"Right." Becker muttered to himself. The ambulance crews were already there, and treating people for smoke inhalation.

"Where are the fire department?" He demanded of the first medic that he could find. The medic shrugged.

"Not my priority." Becker huffed angrily, before going to find the man whom he'd conversed with earlier.

"Oh, it's you again." The man said, a scowl on his face.

"Yeah, it's me again. Tell me. Do you have any idea where the fire crew are?"

"They don't need to be here." The man responded, as though it were obvious.

"Don't need to- there's a bloody huge fire, for Chris'sakes!" Becker yelled.

"The fire will be contained by the building."

"No it won't – it never is!" Becker cried exasperatedly.

"I'm just telling you what all the guests are informed of." He said snootily.

"Look, there are two people _trapped_ in that building-"

"Then they obviously didn't attend the meeting last night. We were all told that this was going to happen, so-"

"Wait- the fire was meant to happen?" Becker asked, momentarily stunned.

"My God, you're slow. _Yes_, the fire was meant to happen. Although, I believe those animatronic dinosaurs were completely unnecessary-"

"Hold that thought." Becker told the man, beckoning Matt over.

"Get his story. He knows a lot of what's going on, even if he _is_ an obnoxious git. It could help massively with the cover story."

"Where are _you_ going?" Matt questioned.

"To save that kid." Becker answered plainly, grabbing an oxygen tank and mask from the ambulance next to them, and wondering who the hell was rich enough to set fire to a building, let alone have thought up this crazy procedure.

"Becker, you-"

"Hey, you can't-" Becker ignored both Matt and the medic and headed determinedly toward the building, slipping the oxygen mask on, and checking for both the small EMD in the holster on his hip, and the Glock 17 in the waistband of his trousers.

"You won't be able to get through, sir." One of his soldiers told him, falling in step. Becker stopped and turned to face the man, with blazing eyes.

"Oh, yes I will, Hardy." Becker told him on no uncertain terms.

"Becker." His lieutenant, Mac, called sternly. Mac was the same height as him, and older, too. He had short, brown hair and hard grey eyes – a sign that he'd experienced many a hardship in the field. He was the only one to ever call him anything but Captain, or sir, and live. Still -

"Lieutenant Mackintosh, may I remind you of where we are?" Becker asked, gritting his teeth.

"Don't do it. It's a suicide mission."

"And if I don't do it, a little boy is going to die." Becker told him fiercely, before turning on his heel.

"You can't save him, Becker." Jess said softly.

"I can." Becker told her determinedly, still walking.

"I wasn't talking about Cameron. I was talking about Kyle." Becker stopped in his tracks.

"No, I can't. But I _can_ save Cameron. I will." Becker replied quietly. Jess sighed.

"There's nothing I can say to convince you not to do it, is there?" She asked resignedly.

"No." He responded shortly, reaching the building doors, and yanking them open, ignoring the feel of the scorching metal on his palms as he slipped the oxygen mask over his face.

* * *

><p>Everything fell silent as Becker stepped into the building.<p>

He felt the fiery heat hit him immediately, and every fibre of his body screamed for him to get out.

But his heart reminded him of the little boy, trapped and alone, on the top floor.

He pushed his way through the heat. Thankfully, the obstacles of the foyer were few. There were a few chairs and plants on fire, and the floor had yet to properly catch and start to cave in.

"Jess?" He questioned with a hand to his ear piece.

"I'm here." She told him, her calm and professional demeanour wavering for the first time that he could recall.

"Where's the kid?" He asked, fighting his way through the falling debris.

"859."

"There any way you can communicate with him?"

"He's got a mobile phone; I'm trying to hack it. Hopefully he'll still have network access, but I'll try to boost the signal if he doesn't." Jess explained. Becker shook his head as he reached the stairwell and yanked the door open.

Or rather, attempted to.

"What sort of five-year-old kid has a mobile phone?" He asked rhetorically as he EMD'd the lock.

"A rich one?" Jess asked back cheekily. Becker merely rolled his eyes as he wrenched the door open. Hurrying up the stairwell, he didn't hear the tiny beeping noise as the door clicked closed.

* * *

><p>"I've contacted Cameron. He said that Claire disappeared earlier to try and find someone to help him – he's hurt his head. But he heard a scream, and hasn't seen her since. There are some strange noises outside of his room, and things keep banging at the door. He did as Claire said and put stuff up against the door to stop things coming in, but it's starting to get a little smoky. You need to hurry, Becker." She said urgently.<p>

"Noted." He said as he yanked the now-ruined door open to the fourth floor. He sped up his pace and ripped off the oxygen mask.

"How long will the fire take to reach him?"

"Becker, did you just take off the oxygen mask?" She questioned disbelievingly.

"It's not so bad up here." He lied, coughing slightly. "Besides, I've got to save as much as I can for that little boy."

"It won't take long – five minutes at most. I triggered some sort of mechanism that speeds up the interval time by accident. It'll be at the seventh floor in the next minute or so. " Jess said in a clipped tone, and Becker allowed himself a smile – he knew she'd be biting her lip, like she always does when he does something stupid.

"Just say it." He told her, rolling his eyes and blasting the locking mechanism off the fifth floor door.

"You're such an idiot!" She exclaimed, "Take care of yourself. I'd say 'stay warm', but it's kind of unnecessary." She joked shakily. Becker grinned.

"I'm going to be fine." He re-assured her, powering up the stairs between the fifth and sixth floor, wiping sweat from his forehead as he did so.

* * *

><p>He didn't know how the raptor was still alive, but it growled angrily at the sight of him. Coughing, Becker drew his EMD.<p>

But due to the heavily running and severe lack of oxygen, his movements were sluggish, and the raptor knocked him over before he had the chance to shoot. Narrowly missing a flaming piece of metal as he landed flat on his back, Becker felt the breath leave his body as he fit the ground, hard.

"Becker?" Jess asked, worried. He'd been silent for too long.

"Here!" Becker gasped, raising his EMD once more, as the raptor loomed menacingly over him. Successfully shooting the raptor in the neck, Becker got up painfully.

"The raptor wanted to say hello. 859, you said?" Becker questioned, glancing up the corridor.

"Yeah. I downloaded some schematics and stuff before the security desk was destroyed. It's at the end of the corridor, on the left-hand side." Becker rolled his eyes and pushed his screaming muscles onward. He saw that smoke was starting to filter out of the air vents. _So much for their amazing technology_, Becker thought sardonically, before he came across another unconscious raptor. EMD'ing it, just to be sure, he carried on down the corridor with a hurried pace.

Becker EMD'd the lock to the door, but found it wouldn't open.

"Uh, Jess?" Becker asked, "Slight problem."

"It's nothing I can deal with – you just fried the system." She told him, and the frown in her voice was evident.

"Right." Becker said, retreating to the other side of the hall. Giving himself a long enough run up, he charged and slammed his shoulder into the door. It came away rather easily, and Becker heard a scream.

"Cameron! Cameron, it's okay!" Becker called out soothingly, "I'm Captain Becker. I'm here to get you out, okay?"

"Where's my mummy?" A small voice called.

"I haven't seen her." Becker told the boy apologetically as he followed his voice to what he assumed must be the bathroom. "I need you to unblock the door."

"What about those dinosaurs?" Cameron asked suspiciously.

"All asleep, I promise." Becker assured him. There were no more words from the boy, and Becker heard shuffles and scrapes coming from the small room.

"Hurry up, Cameron, we've not got long." Becker told him, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice. Eventually, a small head covered with a mop of brown hair poked itself around the door to stare at Becker.

"Cool! You're a soldier!" Cameron exclaimed, his deep green eyes twinkling. Becker nodded and hoisted Cameron out from the bathroom, setting him tightly on his hip. Becker sniffed the air.

"It's started." Becker murmured to Jess.

"What's that?" Cameron asked curiously, reaching out to touch the comm. Becker pulled Cameron's hand away from the ear piece gently.

"My help. I can hear the lady that you talked to earlier from it." He explained, glancing at the back of Cameron's head.

"Oh sh-ugar." Becker cursed gently.

"Sugar? Is that her name?"

"No. Cameron, doesn't your head hurt?" Becker reached his hand up to touch the large, blood-matted part of his head. Cameron bit his lip and shrugged.

"Not as much as it did. Mummy said to stay awake, so I am. I was singing to myself and listening out for the dinosaurs. It still hurts lots though. And I can't see proper, and I feel dizzy." Becker nodded.

"Alright. Well, still don't go to sleep, and I need you to wear this." Becker said, pulling the oxygen mask up and tying it to Cameron's face quite tightly.

"Why?" Cameron asked.

"Because there's a big fire outside, and that will help you breathe."

"But don't you need one too?" Cameron asked, concern shining on his face. Becker gave the small smile.

"I'll be okay. I just need to make sure that you are." Cameron nodded and let his head droop to Becker's shoulder as they made their way to the door.

"I'm tired." He yawned.

"I know. But you can't go to sleep, okay?" Becker said as they reached the door. He glanced down the corridor. _Damn, that fire spreads quick, _he thought.

"Hold on tight." He told Cameron. The small boy nodded sleepily and Becker tightened his hold on him before sprinting down to the other end of the corridor. Becker went to wrench the door open –

- only to find that it wouldn't open.

"Damn!" Becker swore, heedless of Cameron.

"What's-" The boy began.

"Don't repeat it." Becker said tersely. "It's a bad word." He lifted his free hand to his comm.

"Jess? The door won't open." Becker told her seriously.

"What?" Jess questioned disbelievingly. "Hold on – oh, bugger."

"What?" Becker questioned, holding his panic at bay.

"The whole security mechanism is to stop serious threats to the hotel. If at any time the doors are opened without proper authorisation, you can open them once, and that's it. You're stuck without authorisation." Jess explained fluidly.

"Can you get us out?" Becker questioned, shifting Cameron slightly to give his arm a little bit of respite.

"Hang on – I'm trying." Jess said. Becker glanced downward toward the fire and swore again.

"Don't repeat that either. Jess? The fire's spreading _really_ quick."

"Hold on!" She cried with a frustrated edge to her voice. "I'm being blocked at every turn!" Becker glanced back down the corridor. They really didn't have much time…

"Fuck." She said quietly.

"What?" Becker spluttered in shock.

"I…I can't do it." Jess said, her voice defeated and teary. "I…can't."

"It's okay, Jess." Becker told her, swallowing. He looked around the corridor. The fire was spreading fast, and the air was getting very smoky. Coughing loudly to clear his lungs, an idea hit Becker.

"Jess – can you open the lift doors?"

"Yeah. About the only thing I _can _do. But what-"

"Hold that thought." He interrupted her. "Just get those doors open." Putting Cameron onto the floor and breaking yet another suite door, he picked the boy up and ran in, putting him back down in the suite. Hurriedly tearing at every cable and cord he could find with a Swiss Army Knife, he began tying them together in complicated knots. Flipping open one of the pockets on his tac vest and pulling out a carabiner clip, Becker hooked it onto the makeshift harness he'd made, and slung Cameron back onto his hip and ran back outside. Coughing at the heat that came from the now very close fire, and the intense smoke, of which some had seeped into the room, he managed a grin as he saw the lift doors opening. Hurriedly pulling the harness on, he looked to the small boy in his arms and froze.

"Cameron?" He questioned, "Cameron!" He knew he had to get the boy out. He was still breathing – the oxygen mask attested to that, but he was unconscious with a suspected concussion, and that made his situation all the more complicated.

"Jess – tell the ambulance to get ready to leave. I think Cameron's got a concussion, and he's fallen asleep on me." Becker said urgently, pulling the gun out of the waistband of his pocket, and shooting the wires connected to the lift, before putting the gun back into his trousers and clipping his makeshift harness onto the wire. Testing that it would hold their weight, Becker tightened his hold around Cameron exponentially.

"What are you doing?" Jess questioned. He could hear the fear and worry in her voice.

"Paying homage to Danny Quinn. And the tenth Doctor, I guess. Allons-y!" He quipped, before jumping off the floor as the fire touched.

"What?" Jess questioned in his ear as he flew down the lift chute. He could feel the heat against his skin from the other floors, and felt the ash seeping out from other floors singe his skin as he went through, doing his best to protect Cameron at the same time.

Using his feet to slow his descent as he saw the metal of the life, he stopped with a gentle 'thud' as his feet connected with the metal.

"Ouch!" He cried, and unclipped them hurriedly. "Jess, open the lift doors in the foyer." Taking out his Swiss Army Knife once more, he prised open the top of the lift. Jumping through, he ran through the scorching heat of the flaming foyer, jumping any obstacles in his way.

"Shit!" He cried, reaching the glass doors, unable to open them. "Not now! Not after everything! Oh, come on!" He cried, kicking them, and feeling it. Slumping to the floor, panting with a mixture of exhaustion and a lack of air, he heard Jess curse too.

"Becker?" She questioned.

"Yeah?" He asked feebly. The fire surrounding them meant less oxygen for him to breathe in.

This was how he was going to die.

And he was okay with that.

Because he was going out like a hero.

"You're not going to die." She promised tearily. "I won't let you. I'll save you." Becker nodded with a chuckle.

"Okay." He told her, his vision beginning to swim. Blinking furiously, Becker fought to remain conscious. The darkness was starting to feel so inviting… He could see people banging at the door. Jess, Connor, Abby, Matt, Mac, _Jess_…he was never going to talk to them again.

"I'm sorry." He told the little boy in his arms, feeling tears prick at his eyes.

At the end, he'd failed.

He'd failed the little boy in his arms.

And then his resolve snapped.

He could at least fight for it. Fighting off all his aching muscles and his burning lungs, the darkness in the corner of his eyes and the fact that it really was impossible, Captain Hilary Becker stood determinedly and pulled out his gun once more. Pressing it to the pane of the glass, and shooing his friends backward, he pulled the trigger.

And saw the bullet fly through.

"Ha ha!" Becker cried with glee. After all of that, they hadn't made the glass bulletproof enough to withstand a concentrated blast.

"Jess!" He cried with glee, "I'm going to do it!" Steadying his swaying body, he pressed the gun to the glass yet again and pulled the trigger.

Just a click.

No bang.

No bullet.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" He almost sobbed with frustration. He slumped back to the floor.

This really was the end, then.

Swallowing back tears as the darkness threatened to consume him, he pressed his hand to his Com.

"Jess…I…there's something I need to tell you before I die." He said weakly.

"Don't talk like that." She reprimanded him, her voice coloured with emotion. "You're not going to die."

"Yeah, I am." He grimaced. He'd never see those beautiful eyes again, or that gorgeous smile. He'd never hear her infectious laugh, or smell her strawberry shampoo. No more hugs, no more flirting.

Oh, God. An afterlife without Jess Parker was certainly not enticing.

But he sure as hell didn't want to see her there for another sixty years, at least.

"You have a good life, yeah? Find a nice bloke, get married, have kids…" He cursed his ineloquence, even when death was knocking at his door. The air supply shortened even more, and he began to gulp down the air, like a fish out of water.

"Jess…" He gasped in the air, and finding no oxygen, the black spots began to cover his eyes in earnest. "I-" The last word was breathed softly, and the air finally left his lungs with it. His eyes slid involuntarily shut, a tear falling with them.

* * *

><p>There was a brilliant white light. That was what Becker could see, even without opening his eyelids.<p>

Was this Heaven? Couldn't they turn the lights down a bit? Struggling, but finally forcing his eyelids over a fraction, he squeezed them shut again. _So bright_. He heard a faint gasp, and familiar cries, but he couldn't make out the words.

Suddenly, the cries were louder, as though they were directed toward him.

_I can't hear you!_ He wanted to cry. But his lips were unmoving.

More cries, and these ones were unfamiliar. They were saying the same as the familiar ones.

And then, the familiar voice was whispering straight into his ear.

"Becker? Can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?"

_Jess!_ The word was rejoiced with every fibre of his being.

He wasn't dead!

"Becker!" Jess cried with such a tumultuous mixture of emotions that he could even begin to pick them apart.

She had heard him?

"Je-ess." He croaked again, and this time heard himself.

"Open your eyes, Becker." She told him tearfully. Using every ounce of concentration and determination in his body, Becker channelled everything into opening his eyes once more.

And it hurt. He felt exhausted from the little gesture, and wanted to close them again, for it was way too bright, but he did it.

The first thing he saw was the brilliant, swimming in tears, blue of her eyes. Grinning inside, but only managing the tiniest of flickers on the corner of his mouth, he spoke her name once more, like a sigh of relief.

Suddenly - a stinging?

She'd slapped him!

"Owwwww." Becker moaned.

"You _bastard!_" She cried, "I thought I'd lost you! In fact, I did lose you! They revived you!" Before he could say anything in response, she'd crushed her lips against his.

She was kissing him.

_She was kissing him!_

Only able to move his lips fractionally against hers, he cursed inwardly.

"Miss Parker?" The doctor questioned, the smirk evident in her voice. Jess pulled back immediately, embarrassed, and Becker couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly, her cheeks a bright red. "I'll just go-" She gestured to the door.

"No." Becker spoke with as much force as he could muster, which wasn't all that much, truth be told. "Stay." Jess shot him a small, bemused smile, but stayed where she stood.

"Now, Captain. What's the last thing you remember?" The doctor questioned. Becker struggled with his speech.

"Doors. Cameron. Team. 'Jess…I…'" He said firmly. The doctor shot a look at Jess, who confirmed,

"Those were his last words before…before they got to him."

"Water?" Becker questioned. Jess nodded, before unscrewing the bottle of water next to her and pressing it softly to his lips. Guzzling greedily, Becker consumed three-quarters of the newly-opened bottle. Jess just chuckled as he pushed the bottle away.

"Thanks."

"So…no memory loss. I'm just going to perform a few-"

"I'm…fine." Becker spoke, giving a small smile as the words came easier to him. The doctor rolled her eyes.

"Yeah? And I'm the Queen." She told him, taking his pulse.

"Your…Majesty." Becker muttered sarcastically.

After a few tests, the doctor deemed him fine, but told that he needed bed rest, and, on Lester's orders, it seemed, that he would not be leaving the medical bay 'until such times as you can walk out of there under your own steam'.

* * *

><p>"What happened?" He asked Jess, "How did we get out? How's Cameron? How long have I been out?" He narrowed his eyes at her, "How long have you been here?" He asked, taking in her appearance properly for the first time as she sat in the seat by his bedside. She had dark circles under her red raw eyes, and her clothes, a lot less exclamatory than usual, were ruffled, like she'd slept in them. There was no make-up on her face, either.<p>

"You've been out for four days, and I've been here as long as they've let me; so just under four days." Jess began. "Cameron was taken to an ordinary hospital; he had severe concussion. He woke up yesterday, and the first thing he did, even before asking after his mum, was ask about you." Jess allowed a small smile at that. "As for how you got out – Mac and Hardy had an ingenious plan. They poked and object through the small bullet hole you made, hooked the trigger of your gun onto it and yanked it through, which shattered the glass. And they took extra care to ensure that not a scratch was on your gun once they got it." She added hurriedly at the look that crossed his face. Painfully lifting his arms, Becker gestured to her. Giving him an uncertain look, Jess stood and moved into his arms. He wrapped them around her tightly, one hand going to her head, letting the faint smell of her scent waft up his nostrils. He sighed happily and began to pepper her hair with kisses.

"I thought I'd never see you again." He told her. Jess laughed shakily,

"Same. You really had me scared for a while there." Releasing her, he caught her face in his hands as she pulled away. Placing a light kiss on her lips, he looked her straight in the eye, and told her very seriously, what he'd meant to tell her as he entered unconsciousness.

"Jess, I love you." He watched as shock slowly gave way to unbridled joy as an ebullient grin spread across her face, stealing his breath away.

"I love you too." She whispered back, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. As she leaned back in to press her lips to his, the doors opened.

"Action Man!" Connor cried happily. Jess rolled her eyes and moved to sit back in the seat. As her hand slid off the bed, Becker grabbed it and held onto it tightly. Jess shot him a small smile, which he returned with a grin and turned to watch as Abby, Matt and half of his soldiers crammed into the little room. As they all began to talk over each other, Becker turned his head back to Jess, revelling in his new-found freedom, and mouthed to her,

"Love you." He watched as that breath-taking grin took over her face once more, and her cheeks coloured slightly pink. Everyone stopped to stare at the blushing woman, at which she blushed more, but the grin could not be taken from her face.

* * *

><p>Two weeks later, and Becker was beginning the first of his two weeks' medical leave.<p>

"I'm looking for Cameron Baxter?" He asked the man on the desk of the children's ward.

"Give me a minute…" The man typed some words out on his computer.

"Yep. He's on the Tomasson ward, just down the corridor and on your left." The man smiled at him. Becker nodded his thanks and walked stiffly down the corridor.

(He might've lied when he said that he was completely recovered, but he was already climbing up the walls after a day in there.)

"Captain Becker!" An excited squeal came from the end of the ward. Grinning widely, Becker made his way over to the small boy.

"Heya Cam-oof!" Becker grunted as Cameron flew at him and caught him tightly. Cameron buried his nose into the soldier's shoulder and mumbled something.

"What was that Cameron?" Becker asked, chuckling. The boy looked up at Becker.

"I said thank you for saving me Misser Captain." Cameron said sincerely. Becker smiled,

"Just call me Becker." Cameron nodded.

"I have a present for you!" Cameron cried. Becker put him back on the floor and glanced over to his tired, but relieved father, as Cameron went to retrieve something.

"Thank you." Charles spoke, holding his hand out. Becker shook it, nodding once.

"My pleasure. Have you told him yet? About his mum?"

"He sort of assumed, after I told him what'd happened, that she was gone. You've made quite an impression on him." Charles nodded toward the small boy, who was frantically looking something. Becker gave an embarrassed smile.

"I've been told I'm good with kids." He said modestly. Charles smiled.

"Misser Becker!" Cameron cried.

"Yep?" Becker turned his attention to the small boy. Cameron thrust a picture towards him.

He had to smile at it.

It was a picture of him in a cape, with a gun on his hip, and the words on top were, though crudely formed, easy enough to read: Captain Becker, My Hero. Becker felt his heart warm as he crouched to Cameron's level. The boy looked quite apprehensive, biting his lip and watching for Becker's reaction quite carefully.

"Do you know what?" Becker paused, and Cameron looked at him, his eyes wide, "I think that this is the best present that anyone's ever given me." Cameron broke into a large smile.

"This is going up on my fridge, where all my special things go, 'kay?" Becker told him. Cameron nodded, beaming.

"And…" Becker pulled a present out of his coat pocket, "I got you a present too." Cameron took the present, excited, and ripped the wrapping paper.

"Oh, cool! Daddy, look! Misser Becker got me some soldiers!" Charles grinned.

"Do you want to play with me, Misser Becker?" Cameron asked, his eyes pleading. Becker glanced at the clock.

He had time.

"Okay then." Becker smiled and Cameron grinned, tearing the packaging open.

* * *

><p>"I saved a little boy. You'd have liked him. He's exactly like you were that age: excitable and loves soldiers. I hope you're having fun up there with your parents, and I miss you all loads. See you next year. Happy birthday, Kyle." Becker murmured, laying the flowers to rest on the grave. Placing some lilies on the grave to either side, Becker stood up and took Jess' hand with his right, looking at the picture in his left hand.<p>

It was of him and a small boy with ginger hair and sparkling green eyes; eyes that Cameron's reminded him of.

"Six years. Six years since he and Lucy and Steve died." Becker told her quietly, "And not a day goes by when I don't miss them." Jess nodded, simply letting the quiet and her presence soothe him.

"Come on." He said, after a while. Jess nodded and the two left.

The gravestone, with plain white lilies laying in front of it, proclaimed:

_Kyle Alexander Samuel Robertson_

_5__th__ May 2000 – 16__th__ July 2005_

_A wonderful son._

_A perfect grandson._

_The best godson._

_A life lost before it had even begun to live, yet granted immortality in our thoughts and memories._


End file.
